Fox News journalist Ed Henry grilled White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest during a press conference Wednesday about the administration’s omission of the fact that the 21 beheaded Egyptian citizens were Christians. He also brought up the White House’s quick labeling of the three students killed in North Carolina as Muslims.

“I’m curious, why didn’t you mention it was 21 Christians killed by Muslims? Is that relevant?” he asked.

“It sure is,” Earnest remarked, countering the previous narrative of the White House. “Because, the ISIL extremists who carried out this attack indicated that the reason that they were killing them wasn’t just because they were Egyptian, but also because they were Christian.”

Henry asked why the sudden change and clarity to now cite their religion as their reason for being beheaded.

“Well Ed, I’ve tried to be clear here,” Earnest iterated. “I can’t account for that specific line in the statement, but we’ve been clear that we condemn this murder.”

Henry joined Greta Van Susteren for On The Record and said he thought it was “very curious” that Obama didn’t refer to those beheaded as Christian victims, yet released a statement saying no one should be targeted for their faith after the three Muslim students were shot in North Carolina.